Eritreans, as a
people, are very conscious of the preservation of our heritage and culture.
During the war of national liberation, books were buried, articles and
documents were hidden underground or in caves or moved out of the country
and thus out of reach of the occupying Ethiopian regime.

There
are many parchments and icons located in monasteries, churches and mosques.
Theseprecious documents and materials are among the oldest records in
our country. Their content is not only religious but also contains a historic
record of community affairs.

The
Eritrean Peoples Liberation Front (EPLF) always placed great importance on the
preservation of its documents. In the liberated areas of Eritrea various
research and documentation centres were established early in the armed struggle
for independence. By 1975, the Department of Information of the EPLF
had started to collect its publications and other relevant documents.In
1976, the Department of Politicization, Education and Culture assigned a
research team and began identifying key materials, gathering data and collecting
research information on Eritrea. The need
for a well-organized documentation centre was emphasized in 1979, when the
clandestine radio broadcast program, the Voice of the Masses was
initiated.

The Research and Information
Centre of Eritrea (RICE) was established in February 1979, following an
international symposium convened in London by the renowned Africanist
scholar and writer, Basil Davidson. RICE was a foreign-based, autonomous
institute entrusted with responsibility to conduct research and to collect
and disseminate information on Eritrea. Italy was selected as the initial headquarters
since there was already a large collection of literature on Eritrea there.

RICE branches were set
up within Eritrea, Europe and the US. Scholars of the Horn and Eritrean
scholars in exile also contributed to the activities of RICE and the
publication of new materials on Eritrea, such as the Eritrea Information
magazine (1979-1988) and the first Journal ofEritrean Studies (JES,
1986-1991). RICE conducted considerable research on Eritrean culture and history.

After the end of the
liberation struggle in
1991, the name RICE was changed to RDC (Research and Documentation Centre). In
August 1992, it was decided to incorporate the collections of the Department
of Information and Department of Politicization, Education and Culture into the
RICE collection.

The
RDC is responsible not only for records under its custody but also for those
of all the ministries and departments of the government. In 1994, the RDC set
out clear objectives and shouldered the responsibility of establishing a
future National
Archive. Since Eritrea has a history of successive colonial occupations, it has never had
its own national archive for the preservation of its unique cultural heritage.
Thus, the development of the centre is vital to the history of the
country.